Annual member insight · 2025–2026
Adventure Search
Trends 2025–2026
What people are looking for — and what it could mean for your adventure business or career.
Over the past year, SA AIA appeared in more than 224,000 Google search results. Behind those numbers are questions, concerns, ambitions and opportunities. We looked at the patterns to understand what people are interested in — and how members can use those insights.
search appearances (impressions)
visits to SA AIA from Google
overall click-through rate
Google Search Console data for the 2025–2026 reporting period (approx. October 2025 to August 2026).
How to read this
This is not a market survey.
It is a signal.
These figures represent searches where SA AIA's website appeared in Google. They do not represent the total number of searches made in South Africa. Instead, they offer a useful window into the kinds of questions and topics Google already associates with the adventure industry and SA AIA.
01
Search
Someone types a question into Google.
02
SA AIA appears
Our page shows up in those results.
03
A signal of interest
We record the topic as evidence of demand.
“Treat the trends as clues — not absolute market size.”
Trend 01
People want to understand adventure tourism.
appearances for searches around “What is adventure tourism?” — 35 clicks, 0.09% CTR, average position 6.94.
Read the article ↗Supporting terms
- Adventure tourism — 82 clicks · 8,395 impressions · 0.98% CTR · position 14.43
- Adventure tourism definition — 12 clicks · 872 impressions · 1.38% CTR · position 7.70
- Adventure tourism meaning
- Define adventure tourism
impressions across the broader adventure tourism query group
181 clicks · approx. 0.34% CTR
impressions on the Adventure Tourism page
327 clicks · 0.43% CTR · position 8.45
View the page ↗This tells us that people are still trying to understand the industry itself — what adventure tourism is, how it works and what falls within it.
What could this mean for you?
For operators: do not assume potential customers understand your activity. Explain:
- What the activity involves
- Who it is suitable for
- Difficulty
- Fitness requirements
- What to bring
- What is included
- What makes the experience safe
- What happens if weather changes
Try this
“Guided Mountain Adventures”
“Your first guided mountain hike: what to expect, what to bring and how fit you need to be.”
Trend 02
People are looking for ways into the industry.
click-through rate on Work in Adventure — the strongest engagement in the report
234 clicks · 6,999 impressions · position 6.23
View the page ↗click-through rate on the Career page
75 clicks · 2,287 impressions · position 8.48
View the page ↗Career-related content attracts relatively engaged visitors: fewer appearances, but far more people who actually click. Example interests include adventure jobs, outdoor guide jobs, mountain guide jobs, adventure tourism careers, and training and qualifications.
What could this mean for you?
Training providers
- Career pathways
- What qualification someone needs
- How long training takes
- Entry requirements
- What someone can do after qualifying
- Realistic job opportunities
Adventure businesses
- What roles exist in your business
- What experience you look for
- How people can enter the field
- Internship / mentoring opportunities
Professional guides
- Your own career journey
- What the job is actually like
- Skills new entrants should develop
- Mistakes you made early in your career
Trend 03
Safety information earns attention.
CTR on Outdoor Education & School Trip Safety Standards
142 clicks · 3,337 impressions · position 6.81
Explore this resource ↗impressions on Discipline at Camps and the BELA Act
142 clicks · 1.63% CTR · position 7.06
Read the article ↗impressions on water safety content
approx. 0.31% CTR · position 7.21
People do not only want exciting experiences. They want reassurance, clarity and evidence that risks are being managed professionally.
Safety can be a marketing asset.
Safety information should not be hidden only in internal documents or PDFs. Operators could publish useful pages such as:
- How we manage risk
- Qualifications our guides hold
- What happens in an emergency
- How we choose and inspect equipment
- Our first-aid requirements
- What parents should know
- What happens when weather conditions change
“Trust is often built before the booking.”
Trend 04
Practical questions perform.
Tow-ball weight
impressions · 112 clicks · 0.78% CTR · position 6.72
Gravel-road driving
impressions · 47 clicks · 0.44% CTR · position 4.81
Hiking shoes
impressions · 55 clicks · 0.57% CTR · position 9.09
Camp discipline
impressions · 142 clicks · 1.63% CTR · position 7.06
One of the clearest lessons from the data is that people respond to useful answers to specific problems.
People are not always looking for inspiration. Often, they are simply asking: “Can you help me solve this?”
Stop advertising. Start answering.
Instead of
Book our amazing 4x4 adventure.
Try
Do I need previous 4x4 experience before joining a guided trip?
Instead of
Become an adventure guide.
Try
What qualifications do I need to become an adventure guide in South Africa?
Instead of
Our camp takes safety seriously.
Try
7 questions a school should ask before choosing a camp provider.
Trend 05
South Africa is the core audience — but the internet is global.
South Africa
2 309 clicks
81,091 impressions · 2.85% CTR · average position 7.44
United Kingdom
51 clicks
8,097 impressions · 0.63% CTR · average position 12.95
United States
46 clicks
43,785 impressions · 0.11% CTR · average position 8.42
India
31 clicks
9,781 impressions · 0.32% CTR · average position 8.09
Australia
25 clicks
4,346 impressions · 0.58% CTR · average position 8.28
Namibia
15 clicks
741 impressions · 2.02% CTR · average position 5.76
of clicks came from South Africa. SA AIA's strongest engaged audience is South African, but broad educational topics also appear internationally.
Member takeaway
Write content that answers the broad question first, then give local context.
- Explain the topic clearly
- Give practical examples
- Explain how it applies in South Africa
- Add local qualifications, legislation, organisations or conditions
Trend 06
Mobile comes first.
clicks from mobile — the largest share, at the best average position
95,640 impressions · 1.51% CTR · position 5.94
clicks from desktop, despite far more impressions
124,302 impressions · 1.05% CTR · position 10.22
clicks from tablet
4,473 impressions · 0.56% CTR · position 8.20
Your audience is increasingly discovering industry information on phones — often through Google, WhatsApp and social media.
- Answer the question immediately
- Use short paragraphs
- Use strong headings
- Avoid huge blocks of text
- Make phone numbers clickable
- Keep forms short
- Make buttons large
- Do not hide essential information in PDFs
- Test every important page on a phone
The big marketing lesson
QUESTION → ANSWER → TRUST → BUSINESS
01
Question
Someone has a real problem or curiosity.
02
Answer
Your website, social media or professional profile provides a useful answer.
03
Trust
They begin to see you as knowledgeable and credible.
04
Business
When they need the service, training or expertise, they already know who to approach.
Useful content is not separate from marketing. Useful content is marketing.
Content ideas for members
30 content ideas you can use
- Is this activity suitable for beginners?
- How fit do I need to be?
- What happens if the weather changes?
- What should I bring?
- What happens during an emergency?
- What is included in the price?
- How do you manage risk?
- Can children participate?
A simple content formula
Turn one question into a month of content.
The question
“What should I bring on a guided mountain hike?”
You do not need more ideas. You need to reuse good ideas better.
What SA AIA learned
What we are doing with these insights
SA AIA will use this data to improve its own Knowledge Centre — prioritising the topics the industry is clearly searching for.
We will also be leaning on our members more than ever for content and expertise. Watch this space.
We believe SA AIA should become the place people go when they need a reliable answer about the South African adventure industry.
Member challenge
Your challenge: answer one question this month.
Think of the question you answer most often from clients, learners, parents, schools or colleagues. Write the best answer you can. Publish it somewhere people can find it.
The adventure industry has no shortage of stories.
But some of our greatest opportunities begin with something simpler:
A good answer to a real question.